The Esplanade
Medicine Hat Performing Arts and Heritage Centre
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Diamond and Schmitt Architects

The Esplanade infuses arts into the heart of a community

	Index | Project Specs
	Click here for slide show. Photo © Tim Griffith

Billed as a “community center at the center of the community,” The Esplanade is the pride and joy of Medicine Hat, a town of 56,000 people in the south of Canada’s Alberta Province. The building includes four major components: a museum; a main stage theater seating 700 people; a studio theater with seating for 150; and a “Great Hall.” Sited just behind the town’s main government buildings, The Esplanade complex runs parallel to the South Saskatchewan River.

Diamond and Schmitt Architects addressed three objectives: design a building form with a significant public presence that integrates into its urban setting; create a range of display and performance spaces that meet international standards of excellence; and give Medicine Hat a building that enhances public life and brings added layers of meaning to its heritage.

The architect conceived of the plan as an orderly arrangement of large rooms focused on a central public space, offset by an exuberant section defined by layers of light: the Great Hall. A large, glazed lantern marks the center of this space, while a delicate helical stair within the lantern provides access to the roof. At ground level, an architectural promenade from the lobby leads north to the South Saskatchewan River.

A grand, north-facing glass gallery forms the building’s public face on the nearby riverfront gardens, making activities within the lobby highly visible to the outdoors. Two north-facing roof terraces provide views of the wider landscape: one over the front entrance, and another larger space above the studio theater.

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Formal name of Project:
The Esplanade, Medicine Hat Performing Arts and Heritage Centre

Location:
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

Gross square footage:
115,000 sq. ft.

Total project cost:
$32 million

Owner:
City of Medicine Hat

Architect:
Diamond and Schmitt Architects Incorporated
384 Adelaide St. West, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 1R7
416-862-8800 tel.
416-862-5508 fax
info@dsai.ca
www.dsai.ca

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